 "Lorre plays the role of the criminally insane stalker so well that the performance is indeed frightening. As Hans Beckert, he sets the standard here for all the future psychopaths of film..."
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Today, the well-defined and nuanced screen portrayal of the psychotic killer is something audiences have become used to. But, back in 1931, all villains wore black hats and no one even mentioned child killers--no one, except a German director named Fritz Lang, who electrified audiences worldwide with both a sympathetic psycho and a newcomer named Peter Lorre, thereby branding filmdom forever with...
By JOHN W. COLEMAN Before Psycho and before Silence Of The Lambs there was M (1931). This was the first sound film directed by Fritz Lang, and even though it is undoubtedly his best work, Lang is probably best known for his sci-fi classic Metropolis (1927). M is done in German with English subtitles, but that does not detract at all from enjoying this film. Recent news headlines have shown us the all too real and horrifying truth about child abductions and slayings. Rather than those accounts being the truth about some in our society today, it is one horror we all wish would return to being a fictional account like that in the movie M.
The inspiration for M most likely stems from actual serial killings that took place in Dusseldorf, Germany in the 1920s. Peter Kurten, also known as the "Vampire of Dusseldorf" (because he drank the blood of those he killed) claimed nine victims in his reign of terror. He was finally captured in 1930 and executed the following year. Although technically this film is better labeled a crime/thriller than a horror film, I present it here on HORROR-WOOD to credit Lorre’s stellar performance as film’s first serial killer. Lorre plays the role of the criminally insane stalker so well that the performance is indeed frightening. As Hans Beckert, he sets the standard here for all the future psychopaths of film.
From the beginning of the film we know that something is amiss. We see a group of children playing and singing a song about a man in black that comes with a chopper to chop them up. A mother complains about the song. She’s heard enough of the child murderer still at large. We first see Lorre only as a shadow against a wanted poster, but when he speaks to a little girl (even in German) it’s Peter Lorre all right. The voice is that distinctive. He leads the young girl on, buying her a balloon from the blind balloon seller. It’s here that we first hear the pedophile’s penchant for whistling a song. The song is "Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt Suite composed by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
That may not mean much to you, but once you hear the song, it’s instantly recognizable. You know you have heard it before. Director Lang performed the whistling of the song because he didn’t like the way that Lorre performed it. The scene ends with a shot of the little girl’s ball rolling away and her balloon flying off. We know the killer has struck again. Striving attention, Beckert writes to the local press. He has already claimed eight victims. A panic ensues among the people as they falsely begin to accuse one another of the crime. As a handwriting expert explains his findings on the personality of the killer, we get our first look at a very young Peter Lorre.
The police begin a major crackdown on Berlin’s low-life, placing many under arrest. From here, the film follows two threads that are brought together again at the conclusion. The first thread follows the activities of Berlin’s underworld. Representatives of the pickpockets, safe crackers, and other non-violent criminals decide they must take action to catch the killer, because the police presence is now so thick that they can’t practice their professions. They decide to enlist the help of the city’s beggars to watch over the children and track down the killer. The second thread reveals the police investigation as we hear their complaint that the public has been no help at all in solving the crimes. The name, Hans Beckert, shows up on a list of people recently released from asylums and deemed to be harmless to society. The police begin a systematic search for these people, and just miss a confrontation with Beckert. However, they do search his apartment. His brand of cigarettes ties him to an earlier murder and traces of lead from the red pencil he used when writing to the press also implicate him as the serial killer.
In one of the best scenes of the movie, we follow Lorre walking the street, when he suddenly sees the reflection of a little girl in a store window. We can see him trying to suppress the urge to stalk the child. He struggles to control himself, but starts whistling his song and eventually is transformed into the killer. The young girl’s mother foils this attempt, and we see the process repeated again as Lorre is unsuccessful in repressing his feelings with alcohol at a sidewalk café. As Beckert leaves the café, the blind balloon seller hears his whistling and connects him to the balloon purchase for the recently murdered girl. Beckert has snagged another child, and at the bequest of the balloon seller, another beggar tails him. So as not to lose track of Beckert, the beggar writes a large "M" in his hand with a chalk-like substance, bumps into Beckert, and leaves the "M" emblazoned on Beckert’s coat. The "M", by the way, stands for "Murderer" (the film was originally called Murderer Among Us).
Now unable to escape recognition, Beckert is chased into hiding by the beggars. In theses scenes we see that Lorre’s concept of the murderer was to portray him as a little furry animal, scurrying about. The underworld figures find him holed up in the attic of an office building, and they drag him away kicking and screaming just before the police arrive. The police question those at the scene, including a criminal that was left behind. He ends up telling the police of the entire operation and the location of an abandoned distillery to which Beckert has been taken. Beckert is now brought to a mock trial before the underworld gang. He is identified by the balloon seller, and sensing his fate, demands to be turned over to the police. In a riveting scene he claims mental illness and begs for mercy. The scene is played with such anguish that one begins to feel sorry for Beckert as he claims he can’t control the evil inside himself. Just as the angry mob is about to kill him, the police arrive and take him into custody, saving him from sure death. The movie ends with a quick scene of a real courtroom in which several mothers are shown worrying that Beckert may be set free, only to return and murder again. We never learn the fate of Hans Beckert. Thanks, John! No doubt about it, today's filmic portraits of maniacal murderers, from Norman Bates to Hannibal Lector, all stem from M. This seminal film not only boasts a great example of the work of Fritz Lang but also a riveting performance by Peter Lorre. Highly recommended. Article copyright © John W. Coleman |
